1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved device designed to be carried on the person and which contains medical as well as personal information for completely identifying the person carrying the device. More specifically, the device provides facilities for protectively encasing and storing a relatively large amount of pertinent identification information in a compact manner and instantaneously displaying the information in a readily readable form.
Personal identification is no longer a matter of merely determining the name and address of a person. The medical profession has long recognized the need for an identification record to be carried on the person that would provide pertinent medical information pertaining to that person. The current emphasis on civil defense and precautions that must be taken to meet the possibility of a nuclear holocaust underlines the necessity for a device which would furnish the means for carrying such information in a practical manner. To fill this need, an identification locket is provided which may conveniently be carried on the person and which contains the desired identification information. In case of a catastrophe or any emergency where a person would require immediate medical treatment, the device of the invention would instantaneously provide information concerning allergies to foods, chemicals or specific drugs so as to prevent the administration of compounds having the potential to induce anaphylactic shock as penicillins, cephalosporins, aminoglycosides, sulfur compounds, antitoxins, cortisone or related steriods and the like. Information pertaining to blood type and to conditions such as diabetes, epilepsy, glaucoma, hemophilia, multiple sclerosis and cardiac conditions may also be recorded in the device. In addition, if the owner of the device normally wears eye glasses, his prescription may be recorded. If the carrier of the device is taking anti-coagulants, is wearing an artificial larynx because of surgery, is wearing contact lenses or is engaged in some occupation that may have some specific effect upon his physical condition such as, for example, deep sea diving, these special circumstances may be recorded in the device so that a treating physician would immediately have access to information that could save the life of the person carrying such a device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A device for accessing such information is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,178,842. However, the device illustrated therein lacks proper support when opened for use. In addition, medical histories to be complete may require not only a medical transcript, but a typical EKG or EEG reading or the like. Such a reading or standard must be separately accessible from the transcript for comparison to a contemporaneous reading, for microfilming and enlarging or for transmission by facsimile or the like to another facility to allow consultations.